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There is an untapped market in New Zealand for high oleic sunflower oil and it is looking like a highly viable rotation crop, says Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) which is trialling the regal flower as a future crop of interest.

The high oleic sunflower, high in monounsaturated acid (at least 80 per cent), was good as a frying oil and had a good shelf life.

It was also used in infant formula.

The high oleic sunflower was identified as a possible option for growers in 2017, and a ''Food Products for the Future'' project, funded by FAR and Ministry for Primary Industries Sustainable Farming Fund.

It was led by FAR seed industry research centre manager Ivan Lawrie, who was joined by Turley Farms' Roger Lasham speaking about growing conditions and Pure Oil NZ's managing director Nick Murney and agronomist Keith Gundry who spoke of an existing market for the sunflower oil.

Lawrie said earlier trials in Lincoln in 2017 evaluated four sowing dates for two hybrid sunflower varieties: Idyllic and Baltic.